5/18-5/19
After some R&R hanging out with Gopi et al in Pomona, I headed to Joshua Tree for a quick 24 hr trip. I camped on some BLM land just south of the entrance, and was lucky enough to find some firewood waiting by a campfire ring. I built a fire, cooked dinner, and waited for the stars to come out. In preparation for the night photography I was planning on doing with Varun, I took out my tripod and started screwing around with long exposure shots. While I didn’t stay up late enough to see the Milky Way come out, I did see an extraordinary number of stars out and learned a little about long exposure photography.
The following morning I headed into Joshua Tree and went on a short walk through the desert along the Cottonwood Springs loop. I was most looking forward to checking out the disused Mammoth Mine, but it was sealed off from entry and pretty disappointing. After finishing the loop, I headed up through the park towards Las Vegas and encountered some cool cacti and the famed yucca for which the park is named.
I rounded off my park visit by exiting the north entrance to the park at 29 Palms and picking up Subway, where the girl who made my sub confided to me that she had no idea why people ate their sandwiches. After eating my questionable sandwich, I headed to Las Vegas to pick up Varun for our trip into Utah.
